


En's Discovery Illustrated Ficlets

by subspacecommunication (nattherat)



Series: Star Trek Ficlets [1]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: The Animated Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Illustrated, Mirror Universe, Species Swap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-01-23 16:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12511836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nattherat/pseuds/subspacecommunication
Summary: Star Trek Discovery AU! Features redesigned aliens, a few changed events, but also completely diverges from canon after episode 2. The USS Discovery is a renegade ship under the command of Captain Lorca, attempting to interfere with the Klingon Civil War, and pursued by the USS Shenzhou under the command of Captain Georgiou. Ficlets will jump about time-wise, some will be during the events of Discovery, some will be aboard the Shenzhou long before the war broke out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In 2256, six months after the outbreak of the Klingon Civil War and the Federation casualties sustained by being caught in the crossfire, the USS Shenzhou's continuing mission is to track down the renegade ship USS Discovery before the actions of her crew drag the Federation into the war. First Officer Michael Burnham and Lieutenant Saru were captured by the Discovery during a failed mission, and Captain Lorca does not waste time in putting to use the information he has at hand about Kelpiens...

“These are a gift,”

Captain Gabriel Lorca speaks slowly and softly, and Saru can’t identify the source of his fear besides knowing that the USS Discovery is a renegade ship. It isn’t the touching of his ganglia, though that is discomforting in itself (he doesn’t dare speak out, with the look that the Tactical Officer is giving him). He doesn’t know what it is.

“Think how you could help others with this ability of yours.”

Saru doesn’t answer. He’s running through whether they left enough of a trail for Captain Georgiou to find them. The pause drags on, and Lorca’s hand doesn’t leave him. His insides start to feel as though they’re about to swap places with his outsides.

“...Most do not find it useful.”

As soon as he’s said it, he wishes he hadn’t. He doesn’t know why, he just gets the feeling that he gave away more information than he should have. But then Lorca smiles in a way Saru recognises as human sympathy, and he begins to feel not-so-threatened. Starfleet is a wonderous organisation, operating in the pursuit of peace and exploration. It suddenly seemed so implausible that renegade Starfleet officers could really be so bad.

“Saru, wasn’t it?” Lorca finally puts his hand on Saru’s arm instead, a gesture of comradeship. Everything about him read as genuine and concerned to Saru, and his ganglia finally succumbed to his will and began to withdraw.

“The first Kelpien in Starfleet. I understand you’ve had a difficult past. You know, you are exactly the kind of person we are trying to protect here on the Discovery...”


	2. Ensign M'Ress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In 2251, Ensign M’Ress requests a post aboard the USS Shenzhou, transferring from starbase duty and wishing to embark on exploratory missions. It takes an inordinately long time for Captain Philippa Georgiou to issue a response, something M’Ress learns the reason for soon after she receives summons to discuss her request.
> 
> Starfleet’s only Kelpien in service, Lt. Saru, is stationed aboard the USS Shenzhou. The Caitians share no close history with Kelpien, but they bear a close resemblance to the Kzinti species; the keepers of the Kelpien.

 

"Thank you for seeing me, Lieutenant," M'Ress begins, and she is surprised her voice sounds so steady, given that until half an hour earlier, she had no idea there was a Kelpien aboard.

"I appreciate it, I know this is hard for-"

"N-no," Saru interrupts her, and it is cutting.

"You don't."

She turned her ears toward him, but there was no malice in his voice. Instead there was fear, punctuated by the constant shifting of his hooves, ready to take flight. Fear, but assertion. If he were anybody else, she would meet the challenge, but then this wasn't really a challenge. There was nothing about her skillset to question, the Shenzhou had need of more staff in communications, and she was perfectly qualified and experienced. She didn't need to justify her presence there, but... the Kelpien had had to overcome far greater obstacles to claim his place, she knew. Now he had to face and perhaps work with one who so closely resembled those that had done and continued to do unspeakable things to him and his kind. This was no longer about her skill, it was much more than that.

"...I apologise, that was the wrong thing to say."

Saru nodded, but didn't speak further. He was shaking, M'Ress noticed. It was restrained, and his shuffling from hoof-to-hoof disguised it somewhat, but his whole body was trembling. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself immediately. She wanted to tell him how much she wanted the post. How she had nothing to do with the Kzinti, she's only ever been a law-abiding Federation citizen, she'd never dream of viewing him as beneath her. She wanted to explain, but when it came down to it... if her presence aboard made other crew members uncomfortable, it would be better for every party involved if she did not come aboard at all. She swallowed all her words in her throat, and bowed her head.

"When I accepted this uniform," the Kelpien spoke, and M'Ress met his eyes again, causing his voice to falter only briefly.

"I also accepted responsibility to be... a greater person, to surpass my before. And... to address my flaws, and expand my thinking."

He stopped, giving himself time to breathe.

"Lieutenant, I do not begrudge you for finding me discomforting," M'Ress ventured, after it seemed Saru was unable to continue. "I... I will be happy to withdraw my request for transfer. I wish to be stationed on an exploratory vessel, but... not at the expense of another officer's health. There are other ships."

"A withdrawal is unnecessary," Saru almost whispered, but she noticed his trembling had subsided a little.

"Ensign M'Ress, it is I who requested of the Captain that we be able to meet. I did not want your transferal dismissed on the grounds of interspecies incompatibility."

Saru stepped towards her, and though his hoof wavered mid-step, he held out a hand firmly.

"If we are to be true to Federation ideals... it begins here."

Ensign M'Ress beamed, but made sure to take his hand slowly and gently with her paw. However awkward the meeting was for her, she could only imagine how much it had taken for the Kelpien to be able to put himself in the same room as her. She knew then, that the Shenzhou was definitely the ship for her.

"With us, sir."


	3. Silk Strands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has some ridiculous set-up haha, so let me give you the run-down of the context. This is based on a full stand-alone fic I wrote called "Strands of Silk", and I'd strongly recommend reading that before this one so that this one makes more sense. This ficlet is an alternate universe of that fic (which is already an AU, I did warn that this is silly!), in which Saru is human, and Philippa is Kelpien. It isn't the complete fic, which is why I'd recommend reading Strands of Silk, it's an excerpt.
> 
> You can find Strands of Silk on my profile or directly by pasting this link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13221462
> 
> Whether you do or don't get the context though, I hope you enjoy! :D

He laughed then. An interesting exclamation, one she never tired of hearing. He visibly relaxed, eyes crinkled, and then looked into hers searchingly, leaning over a little.

“There is something else too… Philippa Georgiou, may I kiss you?”

She startled somewhat, not having expected the question. She wasn’t sure exactly what he meant. Humans seemed to use “kiss” to describe a number of different things they did, and distinguishing what set them apart was always a little beyond her. She smiled all the same. Of course Saru would ask so politely, and she was glad he did. She nodded slowly, and raised her hand. To “kiss” the hand or the cheek seemed to be what one did unless they were intimately involved.

 

Instead she startled a second time as he pressed his mouth to hers, _kissing_ her. For a moment she was motionless, staring blankly as she felt his strangely pliable lips move against her beak. They were very soft, she noticed, softer than human hands. She faintly registered the silk strands slipping from her lap, clasping her hand over them to save them. His lips ran over the points of her beak, and her senses came rushing back, just in time for Saru to break off the kiss.

Philippa blinked, collecting herself. Of all the things she thought Saru might do after such a question, kissing her in that manner hadn’t been one of them. If she wasn’t mistaken, that was the sort of kiss humans engaged in with intimate partners. Oh, she knew he liked her - loved her even - but he had never acted on it before or indicated that he wanted to. It had been… years. _Years_. Suddenly Philippa realised it had been more than long enough for the infatuation to have developed into something genuine. And it had, she knew. They would not be sitting in her quarters most evenings after season, weaving silk and sharing themselves if their relationship had not become genuine and trusting.

So that left the matter of her own feelings. Saru was among her two closest friends on the ship, and there was no question that she loved him. But attraction was quite another thing, something she had to think about. Philippa cast her mind back, thinking of the time they had shared; from her first memory of him opening the door to her pen in the farm, to their meeting once again when she applied to the Academy.  Their first off-duty hours together, Saru’s endearing tendency to babble. The first time she had shown him her weaving and he was fascinated, treasuring the scarf she gifted him. The time he had taught her to waltz, and it didn’t matter that she looked ridiculous and he was an excellent teacher whose lessons were wasted on her. Their dinners together, and sometimes breakfasts too, and even lunches - they’d talk of stars, and he tell her stories of his childhood and being able to look at the sky, and she’d savour all of it. They had spent shore leaves together, and the more she thought about it, she could remember times she had very nearly nuzzled Saru in the moment. She had withheld of course. Interspecies romance wasn’t unheard of of course, but it was… distinctly uncommon, especially the more different the two (or more) participants were. And Philippa was definitely different to Saru.

She took so long in silence, Saru began to look shameful.

“I… acted out of turn, Captain, I-“

“No, Saru,” She held up a hand to stop him, before anxiety got the better of him, but she didn’t continue immediately. Couldn’t continue immediately. She had never expected Saru to take such initiative, and hadn’t thought to take it herself. She carried much of her past with her, and whilst she believed she could overcome everything that was her before, it still clawed at her more than she wanted to admit. She wasn’t sure how intimate she could be.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, willing her ganglia to remain out of sight. It was not something to be feared. She had never felt safer than she did aboard the Shenzhou and among those closest to her, and any dangers she did face were faced with her brilliant and resourceful crew. She was not on the farm, Saru was neither a bull or a Ferasan, and the world absolutely would not end if she kissed him back. And she did want to kiss him back. Her closest and oldest comrade, confidant, friend.

Philippa decided not to let another moment go to waste, setting aside the silk she had held and returning his chaste kiss as well she could; though she wasn’t quite sure how to imitate his movements with her beak. He leaned in, startling her again slightly as his tongue brushed over the tip of her beak, and she decided she liked that. In fact, she liked him. She hadn’t given it enough acknowledgement before, she had always been so busy - but there was no one else on the ship she had shared so much of herself with than Saru. She rested her hands around his waist, experimentally flicking her tongue over his lips, and being rewarded with a small gasp she thought sounded beautiful. It was certainly interesting, their mouths didn’t fit together at all, and there was something odd about the sensation that she’d never experienced before. She liked that too.

Philippa pulled back and rested her her crest against his forehead, finding she couldn’t keep the smile from her face. She felt almost giddy, and her ganglia lay flat and no longer perturbed. She had been somewhat oblivious to her own interest, and detached from his, and the realisation of their mutual feelings was delightful. Saru’s eyes looked at her searchingly, and she nuzzled his cheek to reassure him.

“You didn’t, Saru. You didn’t act out of turn at all.”

He smiled back, and it was disarmingly endearing, in a crooked and clumsy sort of way. His hands gently rested on her arms, and she knew he was being as careful and delicate as he could. She guided them to her waist before wrapping her arms back around his, nodding shyly. His smile grew even wider and she felt his thumbs gently rub a soothing pattern through the silks she wore. 

“May I kiss you again?”

 

 


	4. Father and Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little Sarek and Michael thing!

Sarek will admit that if he were human (which thankfully he is not), he would be considered an emotionally absent father. He was aware that the human child he adopted would not soon forget the terror she had been through, but awareness alone didn’t prepare him for dealing with it. Michael cries. Michael cries a lot.

He holds her as her knees give out from beneath her and she sobs into his neck, extending his telekinetic reach around her ribcage where he knew a human would hold her. Where Amanda would hold her. Between sobs she apologises for crying when her peers would not, her brother would not, but Sarek knew better than to stop her. Humans expel chemical build-up through tears, a necessary process for their continued well-being, and though he knew she did not want to hear it; Michael really was very human.


	5. Hooks

Pulled to another universe by Ephraim and Captain Lorca, Saru meets his Terran Empire counterpart.

It is an unpleasant sight. Saru immediately recognises the weaponry his counterpart employs; meat hooks, from the farms. It takes only seconds for his ganglia to extend and tears to sting his eyes. His counterpart regards him with a cruel smile and flicks his tongue over his beak, but his eyes remain glassy and unfeeling, terrifying Saru.

“These ones were for the children,” His counterpart says as he brandishes one of the hooks, and Saru stifles a sob.

“Do you remember?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very tiny one, and one that only really makes sense if you follow my DSC work very closely. I hope you enjoy it anyway!


	6. Find Her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set a little after Empress Georgiou is pulled into another universe. Captain Tilly and Lady Cornwell return with the recovered Princess too late, and Empress Georgiou is nowhere to be found, and none know where she might be. The only lead; 29, the Kelpien servant, who met a Michael Burnham from another universe. I'm sorry, this one ties into my big fic "On Her Wings"! It might be... quite weird without that context.

_“Your mother would have torn the galaxy apart to find you,” Lady Cornwell comments, circling the newly-crowned Empress. “The most powerful ship this Empire has ever seen was built to find you.”_

_She smirks, and Michael scowls at her._

_“The Discovery is at your disposal, your Highness.”_

-

"I don’t care how you do it Captain,” Michael seethes, more uncomfortable than she can bear. The crown pulls at her scalp, the robe weighs her down, and the sword... the sword is a painful reminder. Of too much. Of everything.

“And I don’t care what it takes.  _Find her._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> There may end up a lot more of these, that's for sure! This really would lend itself better to an expanded fic most likely, but I'm not good at finishing those, so ficlets it is!


End file.
